Drums

I brought the drums.

We didn't use them immediately. When I began class I was surprised to find that a couple of the dancers were having a very hard time focusing and becoming part of the group.  I have been able in recent weeks to go right into our tune up and exploration of body parts; but on this day I found myself having to spend a lot of time one-on-one with people just to get them to acknowledge that something was going on.

It was the kind of beginning that makes me feel ineffective and makes me doubt myself.

So I backed up (mentally).  One person came in late and I used that opportunity to shift to a variation of the name and movement activity I described in the first post on this group.  I spent a lot of time just talking with each person and pointing out who was present.  "What's your movement today?" I asked.  Then I said to the group, "This is 'so and so's' movement.  Say his name together.  Let's do the movement." 

That seemed to help everyone focus.  Then I observed what kinds of movement people were doing already, perhaps unconsciously.  I exaggerated the movement myself and had the group all do it.  For example, one person was moving her head.  I started to move my head and said, "This is so and so's movement.  Let's all do it together."  I noticed a variation of the movement that another person was doing and had the group follow that person.  Finally we got the point where I could ask, "What's another movement we can do?"  The answers I received were great:  Stretch!  Twist! Turn! Shake!  Walk!  So we did all those movements.  

We came back to a circle.  I had people sit down and then lie down.  We spent a few minutes alternating  being tight or loose all over.  By now we were well past the half-way point in our hour long class.  Sometimes that's the way it goes.  I have a big fancy plan, and I have to just go along with what is in the room.

I gave everyone a drum to use.  I have a collection of drums I have found in yard sales and thrift stores and that people have given me.  Most of the ones I brought on this day are Chinese hand drums:  a thick wooden frame with heads on both sides held on by brass tacks.  The surfaces are painted with colorful dragons and birds.  I also brought a frame drum.

First I had the group hold the drums without playing them.  I asked them to try holding the drums with one, then two hands.  We tried moving the drum around- holding over our heads, "wearing it like a hat", holding it behind or beside us.  (I took suggestions from the group.)

Then we all played our drums.  At this point we didn't worry about being together or making music.  We just explored the sounds.  When things began to quiet down we took turns showing some of the ways we had played our drums.  Some people had very clear patterns that we tried to copy.  We stood and began to walk with the beats that people created.

One person had a very steady beat, so we played that and walked and said:  E-ven, E-ven, E-ven while we played.  Another person had an uneven, steady beat. We skipped or galloped and said:  Bump'ty, bump'ty, bump'ty.  We weren't together as a group; but individually people were able to do the beats and move.

To finish the class we came back to a circle.  I wanted to see if we could all play our drums together in a steady beat.  One person, who had trouble focusing at the beginning of the group, put down her drum and seemed to "go away."  We were clearly standing in a circle, but she placed herself in the middle and just stood.  She didn't respond to questions such as "Do you want to dance in the center?"  (My hope.)  Or "Can you join the circle?"  I was at a loss.

Then the amazing thing happened.

One of the men who has autism and who rarely interacts with others picked up the drum and gave it to the woman in the center.  At first she didn't take it.  But he insisted (non-verbally).  Eventually the woman took the drum and joined the circle.

Comments

[Helen]

Griff, I love reading about your classes--when i can get to it. IT makes me want to DANCE and TEACH. So great to get all these details. AND I love the drum photo. The last bit about the student finding the way to get the other one into the dance--brilliant! HH